MM | Chapter 34

The Corner

Sheng Wang was quite pleased, while Director Xu was nearly fuming.

What made him even angrier was when he was sipping cold tea and rubbing his head, saying, “So now all three of your A Class City Top Three Students spots are vacant, except for Jiang Tian, right?”

Jiang Tian replied, “No, now all four are vacant.”

Director Xu choked on his tea, almost coughing himself unconscious.

“What did you just say?” Director Xu asked, eyes wide.

“We fought together, we take the punishment together. It’s unfair if he doesn’t get it and I do,” Jiang Tian said.

“Did I make him not get it?! Huh!” Big Mouth Xu was about to explode.

But thinking it over, he realized Jiang Tian had a point.

So he awkwardly closed his mouth, rubbing his forehead, feeling like he was going bald from worry.

Sixteen or seventeen-year-old boys are proud and impulsive, often seeking fairness in strange matters. He could never understand or agree. Just like the spirited youths at school could never understand his old-fashioned caution.

Some people can bridge the gap and persuade each other, some cannot.

So Big Mouth Xu slammed the table and kicked them out, declaring, “There will come a time when you two brats will cry and regret! I’ll be waiting!”

The third period in the morning was English. Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian were ten minutes late, but Yang Jing was also late, entering the classroom with them. So the classmates didn’t think much of it, assuming Yang Jing had called them for a routine talk.

Only Gao Tianyang was more perceptive.

He leaned over and quietly asked Sheng Wang, “What happened?”

“Hmm?” Sheng Wang rummaged through his bag for a notebook.

Gao Tianyang gestured with his mouth, “You, Tian-ge, and Old Qi were called away one after another. Now you two are back, but Old Qi’s seat is still empty. What’s going on?”

Sheng Wang glanced up, then buried his head again, signaling with his eyes.

Gao Tianyang said, “What do you mean by blinking?”

“It means please stand up,” Yang Jing’s crisp voice came from the podium, asking, “Gao Tianyang, isn’t it tiring to talk with your neck twisted?”

Gao Tianyang was startled.

He quickly sat up straight, his eyes fixed on the test paper, pretending to be very focused. Unfortunately, Yang Jing didn’t let him off. She said, “Stand up for a moment.”

Gao Tianyang kicked his chair aside and stood up obediently, “Teacher, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. What are you sorry for? I was just looking for someone to stand up and help. Didn’t you want to talk? Here, I’ll give you a chance—” Yang Jing said, “Today I’m summarizing cases where active forms express passive meanings and passive forms express active meanings. List them for me. If you can’t finish, don’t sit down.”

Gao Tianyang was doomed.

Sheng Wang couldn’t bear to see him suffer, so he offered his notebook on the spot. He didn’t always look at his notes, but whenever someone asked a question, he could instantly flip to the corresponding page.

Not only could he pinpoint the page, but he could also pinpoint the location. He remembered which note was in the top left corner, which was in the bottom right, which was written in red ink, and which in blue.

He flipped to the summary of active and passive voice in a second, drew a big bracket with his pen, and handed it to Gao Tianyang under the desk.

Gao Tianyang gave a thumbs-up to his good buddy, then looked down…

The handwriting of his good buddy was so atrocious, he couldn’t recognize a single word.

“I’m telling you, you have the chance to stand on the podium and experience it once. You’ll understand. From this angle, I can see everything you do down there clearly.”

Yang Jing leisurely flipped a page of the teaching plan from the podium, saying, “Passing notes under my nose, huh? No problem, Gao Tianyang, keep looking. If you can understand Sheng Wang’s chicken scratch, I’ll let you sit down.”

The class burst into laughter, and even Gao Tianyang laughed along.

Sheng Wang propped his head up, pretending to be deep in thought. Because of his very fair skin, the girls on either side could clearly see his handsome face gradually turning red, prompting another round of teasing.

Darn, an undeserved disaster.

Sheng Wang thought.

“I heard the grade has given you a nickname, A Class’s English Three Giants.” Yang Jing paused for a moment when she mentioned the Three Giants, showing a fleeting disappointment, but quickly recovered, saying, “Since you’re all giants, can your handwriting be more like your back desk’s, huh? Sheng Wang?”

“Don’t pretend to be deaf.” Yang Jing wouldn’t let him off.

Sheng Wang reluctantly stood up, smiling wryly, “Got it, teacher.”

“Your Chinese teacher mentioned the other day that if you practiced your handwriting, you could score a few more points,” Yang Jing said. “You think ugly handwriting only loses you those two presentation points? Presentation points are deducted when it’s unbearable.”

“Oh.”

“Practice your handwriting when you go back, got it? Don’t torture the teacher.”

The class erupted in laughter again.

Sheng Wang replied with an “Mm,” smiling helplessly.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated in his bag, hidden among the class’s laughter, only he could feel it.

As he bent down to sit, he took out his phone, glanced at it, and saw a WeChat message from the person Yang Jing mentioned he should emulate.

Jiang Tian: Zhao Xi is inviting us to eat.

Sheng Wang was momentarily stunned, then typed back.

Closed for the Day: When?

Jiang Tian: After class at noon.

Closed for the Day: Does their BBQ place open this early?

Jiang Tian: …

A few seconds later, the other party sent a chat screenshot.

In the screenshot, Zhao Xi had sent a location, pointing to the hotpot place at the corner of the Affiliated High School’s north gate, asking Jiang Tian to bring Sheng Wang along.

Closed for the Day: That place always has a line. By the time we get a seat, won’t Old Wu’s half-hour practice paper be unnecessary?

Jiang Tian: They’ll go first.

Closed for the Day: They?

Closed for the Day: Oh, is that Lin guy going too?

Jiang Tian: Mm.

Closed for the Day: Are both the real and fake bosses former students of the Affiliated High School?

Jiang Tian: Zhao is, Lin is not.

Sheng Wang recalled the scene in the office earlier, where Zhao Xi was quite familiar with Big Mouth Xu, while Lin Beiting was more polite.

Jiang Tian: Have you seen the competition tutoring schedule?

Closed for the Day: Yes, Zhao Xi is on it.

Jiang Tian: Lin Beiting is too.

Sheng Wang was surprised when he suddenly heard Yang Jing say, “Sheng Wang, what are you doing with your head down? Come rescue Gao Tianyang.”

Startled, he guiltily shoved his phone into his bag and stood up, pretending he had been paying attention, reciting the various cases of active and passive voice without even looking at his notes.

He looked at Yang Jing, thinking she might praise him.

However, in the next second, he sensed something was off. The entire class had fallen into an eerie silence. Just as he was puzzled, Yang Jing said, “That part was covered several minutes ago. Weren’t you listening?”

“…”

If there were a hole by the window, Sheng Wang would have jumped out.

Yang Jing glared at him and called, “Jiang Tian, come rescue Sheng Wang.”

Sheng Wang heard the sound of a chair moving, and the person behind him stood up too.

After a few seconds of silence, Jiang Tian’s voice came from behind him, “I wasn’t listening either.”

The class erupted in an uproar, and Song Sirui, who feared nothing, gave a thumbs-up, mouthing, “Bold! Daring! Gutsy!”

Sheng Wang felt like he had been caught doing something bad, and they had caught two at once.

Thanks to the two giants, this became the happiest English class in A Class’s history. Yang Jing was too frustrated to call on anyone else, even granting Gao Tianyang a special pardon to sit down.

Only the two of them stood for the entire class, one in front and one behind.

*

The hotpot place at the north gate of the Affiliated High School had just opened a month ago, occupying the busiest storefront in the area. The night market always had long lines, but it was slightly better at noon. They used northern-style copper pots, so the smell wasn’t too strong. Some students and teachers from the Affiliated High School would sneak over for lunch during their break.

Zhao Xi and Lin Beiting were already waiting there.

They chose a window seat on the second floor. After Sheng Wang sat down, he glanced out the window, just in time to see the bustling crowd at the intersection.

“Things have changed quite a bit.” Zhao Xi looked around and said to Lin Beiting, “Right?”

“Yeah, it used to be empty,” Lin Beiting replied.

“What?” Sheng Wang asked.

“Talking about this place,” Zhao Xi pointed to the ground, “When I was in high school, this storefront was infamous for being cursed. Anyone who opened here would close down within three months. But these past two years, it’s been bustling. Whoever opens here thrives. It’s quite magical.”

Lin Beiting opened a drink, pouring some into Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian’s cups, then opened a can of beer for himself and Zhao Xi. “When we rented the storefront, this place was still vacant, right?”

“Yeah,” Zhao Xi said. “Both storefronts were for rent at the time.”

“Why didn’t you rent this one?” Sheng Wang asked.

“Because we were aiming for the other storefront,” Zhao Xi laughed, clinking his beer can with Sheng Wang’s glass. “When I was in school, there was a BBQ place there. The first time Lin and I met was there, and every time we had a gathering, it was there.”

“I heard Jiang Tian say Lin-ge isn’t from the Affiliated High School?” Sheng Wang asked curiously.

“Right,” Zhao Xi casually pointed in a direction. “He’s from No. 1 High School. Back then, he was the top dog there, right, Lin-ge?”

He teasingly nodded at Lin Beiting.

When it came to top dogs, Sheng Wang thought of Zhai Tao.

Seeing Sheng Wang’s expression, Zhao Xi knew what he was thinking and quickly clarified, “Not the kind of top dog with a few screws loose. He was in the competition class at No. 1 High School, good grades and good looks—”

He was cut off by a warning glance from Lin Beiting, but Zhao Xi was unstoppable, saying, “A lot of girls chased after him, which made a bunch of guys jealous. No. 1 High School was tougher than the Affiliated High School, always someone picking a fight with him. He’s not one for idle chatter, so if words didn’t work, he’d fight. He fought his way into becoming a legendary top dog.”

Lin Beiting scooped a bunch of food into Zhao Xi’s bowl with a ladle, saying, “That’s enough from you.”

“See, he doesn’t let me talk about his past,” Zhao Xi laughed, clearly someone who couldn’t be controlled.

“You and Lin-ge didn’t meet because of a fight, did you?” Sheng Wang guessed.

“Hey, smart,” Zhao Xi pointed at Lin Beiting. “We both participated in competitions, chemistry or physics, can’t remember. The preliminaries were held at the Affiliated High School. After the exam, I dragged a group to the BBQ place, and he was dragged by his classmates. Some of his dumb classmates drank and insisted on arguing about which school was better, and things got heated. Then what happened?”

He looked at Lin Beiting, having forgotten some details from back then.

Lin Beiting glanced at him, saying irritably, “Forgot. Anyway, I went to the restroom, and when I came back, you guys were already fighting. You didn’t even look and swung a punch at me.”

Zhao Xi laughed, holding his cup. “How was I supposed to know? Anyone not wearing the Affiliated High School uniform was an opponent.”

Lin Beiting shook his head.

Sheng Wang figured it out. With Zhao Xi’s demeanor, he was probably a school tyrant back in the day. After all, it takes two to tango.

“And then you became friends after a fight?” he asked.

“Of course not,” Lin Beiting said. “We fought at least ten times before we reluctantly shook hands and made peace.”

Zhao Xi said, “Because we both did well in the physics competition and made it to the provincial team, we ended up in the same dorm. Somehow, we just became friends.”

“And then you went to the same university?” Sheng Wang thought he could see a trajectory.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Xi lowered his eyes and chuckled, “No, we didn’t go to the same university. We weren’t in touch much for a few years. Then, by chance, we both ended up abroad and reconnected. Recently, we came back around the same time and heard that the storefront was for rent, so we took it over to open a BBQ place for fun, reminiscing about our foolish teenage years.”

His words always carried a casual tone, as if everything was just for fun. Sheng Wang inexplicably found these two quite cool.

“When I heard you say you didn’t want that award in the office today, I felt you were very much my kind of person,” Zhao Xi pointed at Sheng Wang, then turned to Jiang Tian, “You, on the other hand, surprised me.”

“Why?” Jiang Tian, who had rarely spoken before, probably having heard these stories before, looked up when Zhao Xi addressed him.

“You always seem so mature for your age. I thought you’d be more considerate,” Zhao Xi took a sip of beer, clicked his tongue, and then contradicted himself, “But then again, I remembered you because you were particularly proud. Blame it on your usual quietness; I almost forgot.”

Jiang Tian took a sip of his cold drink with a cool expression, making Zhao Xi laugh.

Sheng Wang thought for a moment and said, “I thought you’d think we were impulsive and foolish.”

Zhao Xi laughed for a while and said, “Not really, because I’ve done similar things before. Rationally speaking, it’s quite foolish, and many people will tell you that you’ll regret it later.”

Sheng Wang asked, “Do you regret it?”

Zhao Xi said, “Do I look like someone who regrets?”

Sheng Wang laughed along, genuinely liking these two people now.

“I only know that you should do things at the right age. If you don’t go a little crazy when you should, you might regret it more,” he said. “There are decades ahead for you to be cautious. What’s the rush?”

Sheng Wang’s thumb brushed over the condensation on his glass, catching a glimpse of Jiang Tian withdrawing his gaze from the window. He seemed a bit lost in thought, his eyes lowered, pondering something unknown.

The intersection was bustling at noon, people coming and going in a lively stream.

*

It wasn’t until the big break in the afternoon that Qi Jiahao returned to the classroom, keeping his head down and not speaking to anyone.

He was probably afraid Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian would spread the word around the class, so he was jittery throughout the break, occasionally glancing toward the back of the classroom.

Little did he know, Sheng Wang had no time for him, as Class Monitor Li Yu came over with forms for official business.

She hesitated for a moment in front of Sheng Wang and Jiang Tian’s desks and said, “Um, the dormitory application deadline is approaching. Are you two going to submit your forms?”

This question served as a reminder. Sheng Wang was laughing at Gao Tianyang’s antics one moment, and the next, his smile faded.

He questioned briefly, then quickly understood, taking a sip of water and apologetically smiling at Li Yu, “I won’t submit it. You can ask someone else.”

Li Yu silently looked at the “someone else” at the back desk.

Sheng Wang casually pulled out a book from his desk, flipping through it while leaning against the desk. He flipped four pages before realizing he was looking at a physics textbook they had already finished.

His fingers paused, and he silently lowered them.

Then he heard Jiang Tian tell Li Yu, “I won’t submit it either.”

He had no memory of when Li Yu left. All he remembered was that when he came back to his senses, he felt the person behind him tap his back with a pen.

He reflexively leaned back, his back against the desk.

Then he heard Jiang Tian ask from behind him, “When will you reopen?”